6106. 'And Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household with bread' means that from the internal celestial there was a constant influx of good into spiritual good and the Church's truths in the natural, which gave them their life. This is clear from the meaning of 'sustaining with bread' as an influx of good, for 'sustaining' here is a constant inflowing, which gives a person spiritual life, while 'bread' is the good of love, 276, 680, 2165, 2177, 3464, 3478, 3735, 3813, 4211, 4217, 4735, 4976, 5915; from the representation of 'Joseph' as the internal celestial, dealt with in 5869, 5877; from the representation of Israel, to whom 'father' refers here, as spiritual good from the natural, and from the representation of his sons, to whom 'brothers' refers here, as the Church's truths in the natural, both dealt with in 6101; and from the meaning of 'all his father's household' as everything in its entirety which belongs to spiritual good and is derived from that good. From all this it is evident that 'Joseph sustained his father, and his brothers, and all his father's household with bread' means that there was a constant influx of the good of love from the internal celestial into spiritual good and the Church's truths in the natural, and into everything belonging to spiritual good and derived from it.

5869. 'And Joseph could not contain himself before all those standing with him' means that now everything had been prepared by the internal celestial for the joining together. This is clear from the representation of 'Joseph' as internal good, dealt with in 5805, 5826, 5827, thus the internal celestial, for the expression 'the celestial' is used to mean good that emanates from the Lord; and from the meaning of 'not being able to contain himself' as the fact that everything had been prepared for the joining together. For when someone prepares himself most eagerly to achieve some end or effect, by seeking out and organizing the means to achieve it, he can no longer contain himself once all the preparations are complete. This is the meaning of the words under consideration here. For the chapter before this dealt with the initial steps that were taken to achieve the joining together, whereas the present chapter deals with the actual joining together, see 5867. 'All those standing with him' means the kinds of things which prevent the joining together and which were therefore cast away, as stated in what follows.